Useful things, when on one leg.
Jul. 22nd, 2013 02:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janewilliams20I'm sure I'll think of more, and edit them in, later, but putting a reference list together probably isn't a bad idea, if only as as to invoke Reverse Murphy's Law and make sure I never need it :)
At the moment, I have my left leg in a cast, with instructions not to weight-bear at all, not even a tiny bit, not even for a fraction of a second. This means a lot of hopping.
Edit: this is now long enough to need a cut.
Walking frame. The hospital will lend you one, or the Red Cross, or we picked one up in a charity shop for about £3.
Now improve it. Get a canvas bag, the sort supermarkets sell when they're trying to be "green", and attach tapes to it: two at the top to attach it to the join between the top bar and the legs, one part-way down the side to attach it lower down the leg (not right at the bottom, though, about 6 inches up), and a bit of elastic at the same height for the other leg - elastic, so the bag remains taut between the legs. Now you can carry things!
If your upper body strength to weight ratio is anything like mine, bearing all your weight on your hands and wrists is hard work, and will hurt - strain on the wrists, and pressure on the hands making them go numb. Get some foam tubes intended to go on bike handles - the cheap stuff, it'll be about a fiver. Slit, put on the walking frame where you grip it, attach with insulating tape.
Get yourself some weight-lifting gloves, with wrist support. That gives you more padding, and better grip. They'll be about a fiver online.
Armchair with STRONG arms. You'll be using them to lift yourself on to your feet, and to change position, so it has to be able to take your full weight, repeatedly. A nice high old-fashioned armchair is good, or one like my rather expensive full electric recliner, that will adjust to any angle.
Sofa with strong arms: you'll be sleeping on it, and you need to be able to stand up again, so see armchair notes. To get up, you want the arm next to you to be on the opposite side from your good leg. (Yes, this means you've got your entire body weight on one arm, as you get up.)
On your feet:
Good foot - the best grip on the sole you can get. If that goes from under you, you've got problems. I use a "walking sandal" - velcro straps to do it up, so easy to get on, and a grip better than most trainers.
Bad foot - most of it is covered in a padded cast, with orders to keep it cool. That leaves the toes freezing, so you need a toe cosy. I knitted myself one (see previous post), or you could take an old sock a few sizes too big and chop the heel off.
There are gadgets available to help you put socks on, if you can't reach. I've got enough flexibility not to need them, but I've heard good things.
Grabby-stick. Possibly several of them. One needs to be a folding variety, to go in the bag on the walking frame, but solid ones are stronger. That lets you pick things up from the floor, get things that are out of range, and poke light switches. Also useful for dressing. There's quite a few places online will sell these - Amazon, and some specialist suppliers for the disabled. Don't be afraid of that word, by the way - temporarily, that's what you are.
Wheeled table to go across your lap when sitting in the armchair. Don't skim on this, the cheap ones are flimsy.
Remote control for adapters to go in mains sockets. Now you can turn appliances on and off. Put one on a big standard lamp to light the room you'll be sleeping in - now you can make your way across the room, and turn the main light out when you get there. You might want another on a big fan to cool the place down, so you don't have to reach down to the mains socket on the floor.
Lots of "tupperware" style plastic boxes to transport food around the place without it spilling.
A flask, to transport coffee.
Mobile phone, and a case that straps to your arm. Do not go ANYWHERE without a phone on your person. If you fall down, you won't be getting back up again without help, so unless you're seated in a stable position, that phone has to be in reach. Make sure the next-door-neighbour's number is on speed-dial, or otherwise easily reachable.
Chargers for the phone, already plugged in in the places you tend to sit down. If you're not sitting down, it's on your person.
Office chair on castors. If you can get one with brakes, that's perfect (as long as you can reach them while sitting in it!), but even without, you can move around one room on that (don't try to go over the edge between carpets to change room, though). Also, it's height-adjustable. Right up for normal use, then drop it down when you want to get out of the house. Open a big door, wheel the chair up to the edge, and drop the height. Position yourself so that the door-frame you can reach is on the opposite side to the good leg. Put the walking frame outside, and stand up, dropping the height of the step as well as that of the chair. Someone else will have to shut the doors for you while you hop to the car, but that's how you get up and down the single step to get in and out of the house. Note here: pushing the thing backwards is a lot easier than scooting forwards, and it's easy to turn round when you get there.
"Gardening" apron - a collection of big pockets that straps round your waist. Doesn't mess up your balance when hopping, and you can get at the contents when sitting down.
Drinking bottles of the sort you can suck from rather than having to open. You can't spill them, and you can fill and transport them yourself. Suggestion: if you're alone in the house, drinks you can spill should usually be water, as that doesn't need immediate wiping up.
Edit to add a suggestion from Dawn:
There are little clips that can be fixed to tubing of walkers, buggies, stools and wheelchairs, and I've seen similar to the purpose sold ones in DIY and camping shops. These mean you can clip walking sticks and grabbers to the side of whatever you are using (I think I've seen velcro strips used, too).
Further edit to add something obvious I forgot. Two things. Both are supplied by the hospital.
Frame round the loo. This means a raised seat, with arms either side to help you get up and down. The downstairs loo is important - this is probably where you're washing and dressing, too, assuming you can reach the washbasin while sitting down.
Perching stool. In the kitchen, probably next to the fridge and a table. It's a seat, adjustable height, nice non-slip legs, and again arms either side. Sit in that, put the bad leg up on the walking frame, and you can do a lot of things. You can move it quite easily, too: good foot down, pull it around, sit again. Not far, and not fast, but it means you can sit in positions where you couldn't have transferred yourself to that from the walking frame (like facing the table)
At the moment, I have my left leg in a cast, with instructions not to weight-bear at all, not even a tiny bit, not even for a fraction of a second. This means a lot of hopping.
Edit: this is now long enough to need a cut.
Walking frame. The hospital will lend you one, or the Red Cross, or we picked one up in a charity shop for about £3.
Now improve it. Get a canvas bag, the sort supermarkets sell when they're trying to be "green", and attach tapes to it: two at the top to attach it to the join between the top bar and the legs, one part-way down the side to attach it lower down the leg (not right at the bottom, though, about 6 inches up), and a bit of elastic at the same height for the other leg - elastic, so the bag remains taut between the legs. Now you can carry things!
If your upper body strength to weight ratio is anything like mine, bearing all your weight on your hands and wrists is hard work, and will hurt - strain on the wrists, and pressure on the hands making them go numb. Get some foam tubes intended to go on bike handles - the cheap stuff, it'll be about a fiver. Slit, put on the walking frame where you grip it, attach with insulating tape.
Get yourself some weight-lifting gloves, with wrist support. That gives you more padding, and better grip. They'll be about a fiver online.
Armchair with STRONG arms. You'll be using them to lift yourself on to your feet, and to change position, so it has to be able to take your full weight, repeatedly. A nice high old-fashioned armchair is good, or one like my rather expensive full electric recliner, that will adjust to any angle.
Sofa with strong arms: you'll be sleeping on it, and you need to be able to stand up again, so see armchair notes. To get up, you want the arm next to you to be on the opposite side from your good leg. (Yes, this means you've got your entire body weight on one arm, as you get up.)
On your feet:
Good foot - the best grip on the sole you can get. If that goes from under you, you've got problems. I use a "walking sandal" - velcro straps to do it up, so easy to get on, and a grip better than most trainers.
Bad foot - most of it is covered in a padded cast, with orders to keep it cool. That leaves the toes freezing, so you need a toe cosy. I knitted myself one (see previous post), or you could take an old sock a few sizes too big and chop the heel off.
There are gadgets available to help you put socks on, if you can't reach. I've got enough flexibility not to need them, but I've heard good things.
Grabby-stick. Possibly several of them. One needs to be a folding variety, to go in the bag on the walking frame, but solid ones are stronger. That lets you pick things up from the floor, get things that are out of range, and poke light switches. Also useful for dressing. There's quite a few places online will sell these - Amazon, and some specialist suppliers for the disabled. Don't be afraid of that word, by the way - temporarily, that's what you are.
Wheeled table to go across your lap when sitting in the armchair. Don't skim on this, the cheap ones are flimsy.
Remote control for adapters to go in mains sockets. Now you can turn appliances on and off. Put one on a big standard lamp to light the room you'll be sleeping in - now you can make your way across the room, and turn the main light out when you get there. You might want another on a big fan to cool the place down, so you don't have to reach down to the mains socket on the floor.
Lots of "tupperware" style plastic boxes to transport food around the place without it spilling.
A flask, to transport coffee.
Mobile phone, and a case that straps to your arm. Do not go ANYWHERE without a phone on your person. If you fall down, you won't be getting back up again without help, so unless you're seated in a stable position, that phone has to be in reach. Make sure the next-door-neighbour's number is on speed-dial, or otherwise easily reachable.
Chargers for the phone, already plugged in in the places you tend to sit down. If you're not sitting down, it's on your person.
Office chair on castors. If you can get one with brakes, that's perfect (as long as you can reach them while sitting in it!), but even without, you can move around one room on that (don't try to go over the edge between carpets to change room, though). Also, it's height-adjustable. Right up for normal use, then drop it down when you want to get out of the house. Open a big door, wheel the chair up to the edge, and drop the height. Position yourself so that the door-frame you can reach is on the opposite side to the good leg. Put the walking frame outside, and stand up, dropping the height of the step as well as that of the chair. Someone else will have to shut the doors for you while you hop to the car, but that's how you get up and down the single step to get in and out of the house. Note here: pushing the thing backwards is a lot easier than scooting forwards, and it's easy to turn round when you get there.
"Gardening" apron - a collection of big pockets that straps round your waist. Doesn't mess up your balance when hopping, and you can get at the contents when sitting down.
Drinking bottles of the sort you can suck from rather than having to open. You can't spill them, and you can fill and transport them yourself. Suggestion: if you're alone in the house, drinks you can spill should usually be water, as that doesn't need immediate wiping up.
Edit to add a suggestion from Dawn:
There are little clips that can be fixed to tubing of walkers, buggies, stools and wheelchairs, and I've seen similar to the purpose sold ones in DIY and camping shops. These mean you can clip walking sticks and grabbers to the side of whatever you are using (I think I've seen velcro strips used, too).
Further edit to add something obvious I forgot. Two things. Both are supplied by the hospital.
Frame round the loo. This means a raised seat, with arms either side to help you get up and down. The downstairs loo is important - this is probably where you're washing and dressing, too, assuming you can reach the washbasin while sitting down.
Perching stool. In the kitchen, probably next to the fridge and a table. It's a seat, adjustable height, nice non-slip legs, and again arms either side. Sit in that, put the bad leg up on the walking frame, and you can do a lot of things. You can move it quite easily, too: good foot down, pull it around, sit again. Not far, and not fast, but it means you can sit in positions where you couldn't have transferred yourself to that from the walking frame (like facing the table)